Rhythm and risk-taking at La Châtaigneraie

DES NOUVELLES DE L’ORCHESTRE DE FEMMES AFGHANES

In mid-November 2021, just as Geneva and its surroundings started becoming grey and dreary, Ollie Tunmer, former cast member of the hit show STOMP, set foot into La Châtaigneraie’s Theatre Department to lead workshops on body percussion – the art of striking the body to produce various types of sounds – for secondary students and choir members.

Ollie Tunmer, a qualified secondary music teacher and director of The Beat Goes On, seeks to engage students with body percussion, not only to explore the body as a percussive instrument, but also to use it as a platform to explore wellbeing, collaborative learning, creativity, and risktaking with a growth mindset.

At La Châtaigneraie, he encouraged students to create their own rhythms, to combine them with the pieces they performed as a choir, and to perform in front of others, in an effort to foster a context in which taking a risk leads to growth. Students learned first-hand that trying new things in a safe environment can lead to all sorts of wonderful and creative surprises. “Some mistakes can turn into a fun mistake and the fun mistake becomes what you intended to do,” says Ollie, with regard to rhythm creation. An important life lesson for young international students who aspire to do great things.

Tunmer’s visit is one of several initiatives taken by La Châtaigneraie’s Theatre Department to engage students in a time when many social and creative activities are limited because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Elles avaient fait la couverture d’echo Magazine à l’occasion de leur fabuleux concert au Centre des arts en 2017. Les courageuses et talentueuses jeunes femmes de l’Afghan Women’s Orchestra «Zohra» nous avaient offert la magie de leurs sonorités envoûtantes, dans un envol de couleurs chatoyantes et d’instruments magnifiques.

Les récents événements qui ont bouleversé leur pays nous rappellent à quel point la paix et la liberté sont fragiles. Nous avons eu malgré tout le soulagement d’apprendre que les élèves de l’école de musique de Kaboul, ANIM, dont font partie les musiciennes de l’orchestre, ont pu quitter l’Afghanistan sains et saufs.

L’Ecolint est honorée d’avoir pu accueillir Zohra et souhaite ardemment que leurs instruments puissent à nouveau résonner librement.

The Afghan Women’s Orchestra “Zohra”